Economy

Business

Bad credit? Higher car insurance?

Bad credit shouldn’t mean you pay higher insurance rates. At least that is what Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is saying. Currently in the state, insurance companies can consider a person's credit score when determining risk. Kreidler says that disproportionately hurts poor individuals and people of color. He has introduced a new piece of legislation that would outlaw the practice. Melissa Santos is a political reporter and spoke with Commissioner Kreidler for her piece in Crosscut.

Where a booming oil market meets wind and solar alternatives, geopolitics happens

‘Peak oil, at this point, it looks like it’s around 2030, which used to sound far away, but it isn’t anymore.’

The great pandemic migration is not what people expected

The pandemic has changed so many things about the way people work. Tech workers, in particular, have discovered they can do their jobs from anywhere. Small towns are trying to attract tech talent from cities like Seattle. But that hasn't resulted in the "great migration" some people expected.

Panic buying, businesses shutter amid looming Covid restrictions

Washington Republicans say the Legislature should immediately meet in special session to address the economic fallout from Gov. Jay Inslee’s latest...

Lights, camera, action! 'Hollywood North' revved up despite Covid — and because of it

Filming of TV shows and movies is going gangbusters in the Vancouver area this fall, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Trump promised to revive Northwest timber jobs during his 2016 campaign. That hasn't happened

Mason County, which is due west of Olympia, was one of two reliably Democratic counties in Western Washington that swung hard for Donald Trump in the last election, when he promised on the campaign trail to bring timber jobs back to the Northwest. But the jobs have not come back.

Government

A city of 'high ideals:' What's at stake for Seattle in the 2020 election?

‘Sometimes boomtowns end up as ghost towns.’

Education

Seattle Now: A childcare nightmare

Childcare isn't just essential for working parents, it’s also the linchpin of a functioning economy. But the pandemic has disrupted the child care system, and parents are grappling with impossible choices.

Business

Seattle Now: The uncertain future of Boeing

A recent congressional investigation into two fatal 737 Max plane crashes blamed “cost cutting” and a “culture of concealment” at Boeing. Seattle’s aviation giant faces a tough journey to restore trust and rebuild its future.

Government

It was an economic theory with little traction, then the pandemic hit

Modern Monetary Theory and you, with Stephanie Kelton